Brazil exporters reroute beef, chicken shipments to blunt Iran war impact

Brazilian beef and chicken exporters expect only limited impact from the Iran war, even as the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz forces companies to ​reroute shipments and absorb higher costs to keep supplies moving.

The conflict has raised risks ‌for two of Brazil’s biggest meat export businesses, especially poultry, which is heavily exposed to the Middle East. But exporters said they were finding alternative sea and land routes to serve buyers in the region, while ​strong demand elsewhere was helping cushion the impact on beef trade.

Chicken exporters said shipments ​were still flowing to key Middle East markets despite the logistical upheaval. Industry ⁠group ABPA President Ricardo Santin told Reuters that March exports were on track to exceed the 476,000 ​metric tons shipped in the same month last year.

To keep cargo moving, exporters have rerouted shipments ​through the Red Sea and Suez Canal and used alternative ports and overland trucking to reach buyers in Iraq, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in the region, Santin said.

“Those are alternatives that take longer and ​are more costly,” he said, adding that higher fuel, storage, transport and war-risk costs were being ​shared in part with importers seeking to maintain inventories.

The Middle East accounted for about 32% of Brazil’s chicken ‌exports ⁠in January 2026, according to Datamar’s data, making poultry one of the Brazilian farm sectors most exposed to the conflict. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, key players in this region, were Brazil’s largest and third-largest importers of the poultry in the first month of the year.

The following chart illustrates the monthly performance trends for Brazil’s containerized chicken meat exports recorded since January 2023. This data was derived from Datamar’s DataLiner market intelligence platform:

Chicken Meat Exports | Jan 2023 – Jan 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Beef exporters also said the Iran war had so far had only a limited impact, ​although industry group Abrafrigo warned ​on Friday that ⁠a broader conflict could further raise logistics costs.

At the same time, the sector is also adjusting to China’s safeguard measures on beef imports, which ​limit Brazil’s access to a 1.1-million-ton quota subject to a lower tariff; ​volumes above ⁠that face a steeper 55% duty.

Abrafrigo said Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, had been redirecting shipments to markets including the U.S., the European Union, Chile and Russia, while tighter global cattle supplies ⁠were also ​supporting demand.

In the first two months of 2026, Brazil’s exports ​of fresh and processed beef, including offal and other byproducts, rose 39% in value to $2.865 billion, while volumes increased 22% ​to 557,240 tons, Abrafrigo said.

Adapted from a reporting by Roberto Samora for Reuters

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